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Alone we can do so little; together we achieve so much! News Update: August 2008 Welcome to the August news update. As you know we are now online. We are uploading information on a regular basis. Hopefully, in the next few weeks there will be a page where we can add useful links to other websites and you will be able to download documents. Perceptive professionals embedding dignity and respect in a care environment A Dignified Revolution aims to ensure that older people are cared for with dignity and respect in hospital. We have developed a workshop, which is being piloted, that is focused on practical experiences that can help to maintain the dignity of older people whilst they are in hospital. Content includes: · The importance and benefits of Maintaining Dignity whilst in hospital · Seeing the world from other people’s perspectives · Tools and techniques for embracing Dignity and Respect · Embedding Dignity and Respect in your organisation It is being held on Friday 12 September in the boardroom of Because this is a pilot event, and we will be seeking your views on its content, there is no charge for this event. Only six places are left, which are available to nurses only, and they will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. Please contact us if you would like to book a place Forthcoming events that you might be interested in attending are listed below: Helping to ensure that older people are treated with dignity and respect Friday 7 November 2008 Taff Housing Association, This is a repeat of the seminar that was held in May. There is a report of the event below. For more information please email: info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have any information that you would like to share with others please let us know and we will be happy to circulate it in the next newsletter. If you are reading a copy of this email forwarded to you by a colleague we may not have your contact details. If you would like to guarantee a regular monthly copy of the mailing send your details to info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk ACTIVITY Over the last few weeks we have met with a variety of individuals and organisations from across At the meeting we gave a brief outline of why we established A Dignified Revolution and Ruth updated us on the development of her office. During the meeting we also shared the following concerns: · the fact that POVA (Protection of Vulnerable Adults) training does not appear to be mandatory for NHS Staff. It also appears that NHS Trusts are using the internal process of clinical governance rather than referring to POVA when cases contain abuse and neglect elements · the necessity for independent advocacy at the point of need for older people and their relatives. The NHS and social services are complex systems and good support is needed if people are to make informed choices about their future care. We drew attention to the fact that current independent advocacy services in · that there is no difference between personal care and fundamental nursing care. Personal care is part of registered nursing care and is underpinned by significant knowledge and skills which are based in the social model of health (i.e. looking at and supporting compassionately the whole person and their environment and managing and promoting improvement in their health status). · the fact that many people who contact us with distressing stories are health professionals themselves. They appear to be powerless to influence the environment in which they work · many nurses are afraid to report concerns about inappropriate (abusive) care because they are afraid of the repercussions it might have for themselves and the patient involved · the lack of leadership in nursing - why aren One of the things that we are calling on the NHS or the Government to provide is independent mystery visitors who make unannounced visits to hospital wards to observe and report on activity. We felt that this might come within the role of more empowered Community Health Councils. We discussed this and sent the Commissioner a copy of an article covering the issue. Gwent Age Concern Advocacy officers. The officers support older people in hospital and care homes. If you would like further information about their service you can contact them on the following numbers: · Blaenau Gwent service: 01495 320238 · Caerphilly service: 01495 231052 · Torfaen service: 01495 768620 · We are grateful to Gwent advocacy for their support in helping to locate a venue for an event that we are planning Age Concern Morgannwg staff continue to support A Dignified Revolution by passing information on through older people’s networks and through the various meetings that they attend Age Concern Age Alliance Wales to discuss dignity and transport, two issues that the Wales Audit Office to discuss the work in which we are involved and we exchanged information and experience on Delayed Transfers of Care. This is work in which the Audit Commission is currently involved We participated in the first meeting of the Welsh Assembly Government National Coordinating Group for the Dignity and Care Programme. This has representation from health, local authority, inspection bodies, voluntary agencies and older peoples groups. Although Local Health Boards were represented it was disappointing that no-one attended to represent NHS hospital trusts. We have also been contacted by: · a member of staff working at the Assembly with an offer to develop a Welsh version of our leaflet · Gwent Federation of the Women’s Institute and invited to attend their meeting on 10 October in Cwmbran · Romilly Nursing Home to talk about dignity and respect to members of staff · Cwm Taf NHS Trust and invited to participate in a novice nurse programme that is being developed for newly qualified nurses employed by the Trust · Cardiff Older People’s Forum to ask if we would go and talk to its members · Torfaen local government strategy officer to participate in a care conference in February 2009. We have been asked to give a key note speech on nursing older people, and we have been offered stand space · the new North Wales NHS Trust with a request to speak at two events in October that are being held, and which focus on dignity and respect · the lead officer for the Department of Health (DH) Dignity in Care Campaign. The DH dignity website has recently been updated and we have been asked if we would like to upload information about A Dignified Revolution · the Open University in Scotland and invited to participate in a workshop for health care support workers which RCN Scotland and the Open University are holding in Inverness in November 2008 · participate in the Socialist Health Association meeting that is being held on 5 November 2008 in · the Health Foundation who are interested in finding out about A Dignified Revolution · the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC), who were interested in hearing about A Dignified Revolution. We have received details of a conference that the council is holding in October, details in the events section. There is a users and carers section on the NCPC website where: · you can share your stories and experiences of user involvement · there are resources for professionals · you can find out about the older people policy group Jo Black is the User and Carer Involvement Project Manager. She can be contacted at j.black@ncpc.org.uk or tel: 01992 584609 From reading our news updates, the older people GOOD NEWS CORNER You will recall that in our last newsletter we established the good news corner and invited people to send us their good news stories. We haven’t received many so far but we are confident that over time people will find the time to get in touch. Cwm Taf We would like to thank "I read your newsletter with interest and thought I would draw you attention to a small area of good practice. I say small because it primarily affects just one person directly but it I am based in Ysbyty George Thomas, and each ward has its own garden for patients to have access to outdoor space. Keeping the gardens looking nice is largely the responsibility of the nursing staff and they regularly fundraise to buy hanging baskets etc. This year they have cleared one of the flower beds and created a small vegetable patch. One of the patients who is severely mentally impaired (has been in institutions approx 50yrs) has created an excellent little veggie patch with all sorts of plants in it. One particular nursing assistant has been instrumental in demonstrating that we should all respect the individual It seems that these small acts of person centred care often go unnoticed, and I wondered whether you have any suggestions as to how we could recognise this more" United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust In last month’s news update we reported on the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Patient Wellbeing Programme. We have since spoken to the Chief Nurse at the Trust to find out more. Key features of the programme include: · a focus on patient well-being · all levels of staff (clinical and non-clinical) in the organisation are involved - from the frontline to board level · acknowledgement on the importance of spirituality in care · patient well-being champions have a direct line to the Chief Nurse for support · service users are meaningfully involved using their personal experiences to transform services. It is believed that seeing things happen helps give them closure on their experience · the programme extends across all the hospital sites within the trust · This programme appears to have the potential to embed dignity into the whole organisation. If you would like more information please email sylvia.knight@ulh.nhs.uk, Chief Nurse at the Trust REPORT ON On 13 May 2008 These WNA seminars have been targeted towards nurses in the past year, but, as with the ethos of the Open University "Open to All", this seminar was open to all older people, health and social care professionals and academics. The intention to promote a lively and interesting debate was realised and a full and frank discussion took place with nurses and older people sharing their experiences, challenges and frustrations. The seminar finished with a rallying call for nurses to understand what had changed, understand their own prejudices towards nursing older people, reflect, acknowledge and act. Suggestions were made for nurses to speak up and speak out about observing undignified practice, and to work closely with older people and other nurses towards a form of reconciliation that would give nurses as well as older people a symbol of hope. The final call was for nurses themselves to reclaim the power to control the nursing agenda with older people particularly around core nursing skills - fundamental care, and move towards a goal of offering high quality dignified care again. A video recording was made of the seminar and discussion and a DVD of the discussion will be made available later on in the year thanks to the support of Help the Aged Cymru. There have been requests to offer a repeat of this Seminar in North Wales and A date for north FEEDBACK “Working within older peoples services within the PCT, I was humbled by your honesty and understandable obvious desire to improve the quality of services for people in hospital and in care/nursing homes.” “There is obviously a cultural revolution to embark upon to drive home the ‘no tolerance *** "The Revolution on Dignity is growing momentum daily. I gave a talk about Human Rights and Dignity to 60 people today”. “I *** “We are writing to thank and congratulate you for your hard work and commitment to furthering the issue of dignity within hospitals. We have distributed your flyer to contacts within *** "I have just read the latest newsletter you sent and I wanted to say congratulations on all the work and activities and progress that you have been making. I especially like your aim of a good news corner which will in due course be the entire newsletter, we hope" *** “Thank you for this information and very best wishes and support in what you are trying to achieve” *** "Dear all, you are doing a fantastic job - please keep up the pressure and you have my total support. I am a Medical Director and we wish to make fast progress in this area and your work is very helpful, in reducing our work burden and not having to reinvent the wheel" *** “I have seen your information through CHAIN. Brilliant idea! Great to see nurses in the driver seat. Good luck!” *** “I can forward information on to all practice and community nurses in *** BIZFACE, the social networking business and communities forum has posted information about A Dignified Revolution on its website The facilitator of the REPORTS The Board of Community Health Councils in Complaints advocacy service report for Community Health Councils 2007-2008 The summary of the report highlights that: · the most common subject of complaints was treatment in practice, and communication was a significant area of concern · the service that received most complaints was medicine. Within medicine, the highest number of incidents concerned care of the elderly This report is now available. To obtain a copy email: enquiries@waleschc.org.uk USEFUL RESOURCES Rate your doctor and share your stories I Want Great Care is an independent organisation which aims to help every patient get great care. Its website enables individuals to rate their doctor, share their stories and become part of the change that will ensure everyone can receive truly great care Patient Opinion Patient Opinion is all about enabling patients to share their experiences of health care Educational resources on dignity The resources can be found on the Cardiff University website Confidence in caring: new guidance Confidence in caring offers a framework of best practice guidelines to help healthcare staff and carers focus on the issues that matter most to patients and provide a positive experience for them RCN e-learning resource The Royal College of Nursing e-Learning resource is now available to members. To access the resource visit the RCN website. An influencing toolkit and a practice support pack will be available in the Autumn. As part of its Spirituality and medical practice: using the HOPE questions as a practical tool for spiritual assessment Studies suggest that many patients believe spirituality plays an important role in their lives, that there is a positive correlation between a patient IN THE NEWS Assembly vote towards a dementia plan for The Alzheimer's Society in Care & Repair helps speed up hospital discharge Care and Repair has launched a new ‘Hospital to Home The Maynard Doctrine: Darzi and nursing - time to tackle this time bomb? This article argues that focusing on doctors, in isolation of nurses, to achieve clinical practice variations is unwise. The author questions where the reform focus for nurses is in Lord Darzi’s report. He draws attention to variations in nurse practice, the absence of systematic leadership and how much of the change that is happening in nursing is evidence based and evaluated? Some hospitals are developing the Assistant Practitioner (APs) nursing role. What do these nurses do? Are they cost – effective substitutes or complements for Registered Nurses (RNs)? Is the development of the AP grade a reflection of past error in removing the State Enrolled Nursing (SEN) role and focusing too intently on the development of graduate nurses? 30,000 patients left starving in NHS hospitals At least 30.000 patients were left starving on NHS wards last year, despite ministers pledging to make nutrition in hospitals a priority. Official figures show that between 2005 - 2007 there was an 88% rise in reported cases of poor nutrition leading to serious deterioration in a patient Calls to improve hospital food A bid to improve hospital food across NHS neglects elderly depression Age Concern has found over 65s seeking help are often fobbed off, misdiagnosed or given inappropriate treatment. Fewer than 10% of older people with clinical depression are referred to specialist mental health services compared with about 50% of younger adults with mental and emotional problems. In some cases, GPs are unable to refer older people on to other parts of the NHS that could help them because of discriminatory rules excluding people over the age of 65. The charity has launched a new campaign - Down, but not out - to improve the lives of older people with depression NHS at 60 - Claire Rayner in conversation with newly-qualified nurse Yvonne Parkes Claire Rayner, who trained as a nurse in the NHS nearly 60 years ago, talks to Yvonne Parkes, who is just embarking on her nursing career Promoting high quality of care for all adults at the end of life The Government has published the End of Life Care Strategy promoting high quality care for all adults at the end of life. Its aim is to provide people approaching the end of life with more choice about where they would like to live and die. It encompasses all adults with advanced, progressive illness and care given in all settings Councils not prepared for ageing population Councils are not prepared to meet the needs of their ageing population according to a report from the Audit Commission. The commission used a "mystery shopper" exercise to test how well councils dealt with the demands of over-50s for services such as leisure and transport. It found that those facing the biggest rises in the proportion of elderly residents were least able to offer suitable services CPS publishes policy on prosecuting crimes against older people A policy has been produced through the work of a project group chaired by CPS London FORTHCOMING EVENTS Dignity in Care on the Wards: Moving Forward Wednesday 1 October 2008, Visit the website for more information Dying Well with Dignity: Meeting the Challenges of Multiple Conditions Thursday 16 October 2008 The Hellenic Centre, For more information email m.rana@ncpc.org.uk or tel: 020 7697 1520 Helping to ensure that older people are treated with dignity & respect A half day seminar to discuss the care of older people in hospital and the continuing care process Friday 7 November 2008 Taff Housing Association, For further information email info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk THE FUNDING OF A DIGNIFIED REVOLUTION The common experience of how close relatives, whilst in hospital, had not been treated with respect and, as a result, lost their dignity led a group of individuals to establish A Dignified Revolution in January 2008. A Dignified Revolution aims to ensure that older people are cared for with dignity and respect in hospital. We do this by raising awareness of dignity and respect issues to health professionals and to the general public All our events and publications are provided free of charge. If we do not receive sufficient donations, then we pay for the difference out of our own pockets. If you would like to help, we would like your time most of all. However, some cash would also be useful. £15 covers the cost of a person attending an awareness day; £30 covers the cost of printing and posting 100 leaflets; £100 covers the cost of one trip between North and Donations will help us to continue our work – so please give generously if you think our cause is worthwhile. Not a penny will be spent on administration or overheads – we don’t have any! Cheques should be made payable to A Dignified Revolution. We want to remain focussed on our goal of helping older people retain their dignity whilst in hospital. In order to avoid being diverted onto other issues and priorities, we do not seek statutory sector funding (although unsolicited grants will be accepted). So your support is important and will help to make a difference. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following people for giving their time and expertise to help develop resources to support A Dignified Revolution: Lance Webster – for the design of our logo John Dixon – for the development of the website An individual (who would like to remain anonymous) for her production of our leaflet The Welsh Language Board – for the translation of our leaflet CONTACT DETAILS A Dignified Revolution Britannia House, Tel: 07811 159800 Fax: 01446 774864 Website: www.dignifiedrevolution.org.uk |
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